Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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96 MARCH 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T he list of former Notre Dame foot- ball players invited to this year's NFL Combine speaks to the talent that surrounded starting quarterback CJ Carr last season. All six Irish players who received an in- vitation for the annual audition in India- napolis lined up on offense last season: running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadar- ian Price, offensive linemen Billy Schr- auth and Aamil Wagner, wide receiver Malachi Fields and tight end Eli Raridon. Notre Dame will be challenged to re- place that talent around Carr in his sec- ond season leading the Irish offense. It's highly unlikely Notre Dame can match that talent at running back in 2026, and it will require a group effort to repli- cate the experience and production lost along the offensive line and at tight end. Despite losing Fields, whose perceived draft stock started to rise at the Senior Bowl in January, the Irish might be in posi- tion to improve at wide receiver, and Notre Dame likely needs that to happen to maxi- mize the potential of its offense in 2026. Last season, Notre Dame didn't need its wide receivers to be the stars of the offense. With an inexperienced quarter- back and playmakers in the backfield, the wide receiver unit was a complementary position group. That's why Fields, who averaged 56.5 catches, 809.5 receiving yards and 5 receiving touchdowns in his final two seasons at Virginia, only totaled 36 receptions for 630 yards and 5 touch- downs in his lone season at Notre Dame as a graduate transfer. The drop in production for Fields in 2025 doesn't mean Notre Dame under- utilized him. The Irish didn't need to rely on him to move the chains in the same way Virginia did. Handing the ball off to Love and Price was a lower-risk proposi- tion with plenty of explosive possibili- ties. But Notre Dame probably didn't maximize Fields' abilities, even though he still averaged 17.5 yards per catch. Notre Dame likely can't afford to have a repeat of 2025 when just two wide re- ceivers tallied more than 26 receptions. Though the Irish lost Fields and Will Paul- ing, who caught 26 passes for 381 yards and 6 touchdowns last season, to ex- hausted eligibility this offseason, the ex- pectations for the position must be high. In 2025, Notre Dame had nearly as many rushing plays of 40 or more yards (11) as passing plays of 40 or more yards (12). Though junior Aneyas Williams leads a talented but inexperienced group of running backs heading in the 2026 season, the Irish can't expect to rely on as many game-changing running plays. That will put more pressure on a pass- ing game that had 50 receptions of 20 or more yards and 24 receptions of 30 or more yards last season. Both of those totals were among the top 26 in both cat- egories among FBS programs last season. Jordan Faison led Notre Dame in re- ceptions (49) and receiving yards (640) as a junior last season while also catch- ing 4 touchdown passes. But only five of his receptions went for at least 20 yards last season. Fields had 14 of them. Faison, who finished the season with 31 catches of 10 or more yards, will likely be asked to stretch the field more as a senior. He'll have plenty of talented help at the receiver position, but none of the other receivers on Notre Dame's roster caught more than nine passes last season. Jaden Greathouse, who ended up red- shirting last season by playing in just four games before being sidelined with a thigh/hamstring injury, will make his an- ticipated return. Greathouse caught just 4 passes for 73 yards last season after to- taling 60 receptions, 857 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns in his first two seasons at Notre Dame. He can redeem himself in his redshirt junior season in 2026. Though Greathouse's career aver- age depth of target (10.0 yards, per Pro Football Focus) is the same as Faison's, Greathouse has a stellar record of con- tested catches. PFF credits Greathouse with a contested catch rate of 77.8 per- cent with 14 catches on 18 contested targets. Faison has just 8 catches on 18 contested targets (44.4 percent). While Faison and Greathouse are the headline returners at the receiver posi- tion, the Irish have inexperienced talent who could help the group ascend. Notre Dame took a transfer portal gamble by opting for younger players from Ohio State — redshirt sophomore Mylan Gra- ham and sophomore Quincy Porter — rather than more experienced players. All six of Notre Dame's portal additions at wide receiver the previous three off- seasons were graduate transfers. But Fields and Pauling are looking to be the first NFL Draft picks among that sextet. Graham and Porter should have ev- ery opportunity to become part of the receiver rotation this season. Graham, who caught 6 passes for 93 yards last season, was ranked as the No. 9 wide receiver in the Rivals Industry Rankings for the 2024 recruiting class. Porter, who logged 4 catches for 59 yards last season, was ranked as the No. 3 wide receiver for the 2025 class. No other receivers on Notre Dame's roster were ranked in the top 10 at the position in the Rivals Indus- try Rankings for their respective classes. Faison, Greathouse, Graham and Por- ter should comprise Notre Dame's top four receivers. Other receivers could push to get into the rotation. Regardless of who's on the field, they'll be asked to raise the ceiling of Notre Dame's offense with a quarterback receiving way-too- early Heisman Trophy buzz. ✦ A return to relevance for wide receiver Jaden Greathouse in 2026 could help Notre Dame's passing game. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Wide Receivers Need To Elevate Irish Offense Tyler James has been covering Notre Dame athletics since 2011. He can be reached on X @ TJamesND FIRST AND LAST TYLER JAMES